Los Santos Fire Department
The Los Santos Fire Department (LSFD) is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Santos and its neighbouring counties. 'History' LSFD has it origins in the year 1871. In September of that year, George M. Fall, the County Clerk for Los Santos County organized Engine Company No. 1, a volunteer firefighting force. When the Los Santos Fire Department was formed in 1886, it had 4 fire stations, two steam fire engines, two hose reels, a hose wagon, a 65' aerial ladder truck, 31 paid firefighters, 24 reserve firefighters and 11 horses to protect 30 square miles (77 km²) and a population of 50,000. By 1900, the Department had grown to 18 fire stations with 123 full-time paid firefighters and 80 fire horses. The city had also installed 194 fire-alarm boxes allowing citizens to sound the alarm if a fire was spotted. 660 fire hydrants were placed throughout the city, giving firefighters access to a reliable water source. For reasons currently unbeknownst by many, the LSFD had - through its years - sustained several, substantial changes and reforms. A revision that was particularly large-scale came in late 2007, in which the LSFD became known as the Los Santos Emergency Medical Services (LS-EMS), a Department completely re-structured and re-modeled in favor of EMS dominance; the firefighting departments and divisions made small subsidiaries. Former EMS Directors were content with this format (Jimmy Jackson, Callum Lewis) and upheld it, having been presented with figures that alleged a steep decline in the number of fire and rescue incidents. Despite this, recently positioned Director, Fabien Reynolds, argued that resources would only be effectively deployed if the Department returned to its original state. In a press conference Reynolds told the public how both he and the government considered his predecessor, Stuart Collins, "inviable" to run the LS-EMS. He went on to say how the Department was "much more akin and based on the London Ambulance Service", rather than west-coast United States fire services. After much deliberation with his management boards and teams, the "total transformation of the Los Santos Emergency Medical Services" begun, spanning over several, long months. It was dubbed the most unprecidented change the city had ever seen of its public services. The Department's brand new front was unveilled to the public on January 20th 2011. Today, the LSFD has nearly 3,600 uniformed personnel who offer fire prevention, firefighting, emergency medical care, technical rescue, hazardous materials mitigation, disaster response, public education and community service to a resident population of more than 4 million people who live in the agency's 471 square mile (1,220 km²) jurisdiction. At the start of the new year the Los Santos Fire Department suffered a huge loss of it's commissioner Stuart Collins who sadly resigned. Taking over the LSFD was Brett Carnahan who began to make changes within the department for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately due to issues that we're unforeseeable commissioner Carnahan resigned in March 2012 after such a small reign and potential ideas for the LSFD. This resulted in a difficult time for the department and issues around them with no help to bring order back to the department. This led to a shock but joyous return of previous Commissioner Collins coming out of retirement in order to aid the department through the tough period it was experiencing. Commissioner Collins began working on bringing the department back to the state it used to be making many changes including the introduction of Jenny Russ as High Command in order to aid him with the work required within the department. The LSFD continued to grow in numbers and return to it's old state over the next few months with changes being brought in along the way. Unfortunately another hit to the department occurred with Commissioner Collins retiring for the last and final time and moving back to England, leaving the department in the hands of his successor - Jenny Russ. With a new Commissioner in charge Commissioner Russ continued to bring the full effectiveness out of the employees belonging to the Los Santos Fire Department and made many changes to the way things we're ran. This included a revamp of the training and recruitment sectors, introduction of the coroners unit, impounders unit and the special hazards unit. New medical guides we're also introduced as well as the new structure of staff (Head of Staff, Head of Administration, Head of Sub-Departments). However unfortunately things came to a shock end in March 2013 when Commissioner Russ announced early retirement and that she would be returning to England. During the next two months the Los Santos Fire Department was watched over by Commissioner Harris continuing to finish the improvements to the department that the previous Commissioner was unable to complete. A shock turn in the leadership of the LSFD then came after these two months when Commissioner Russ came out of early retirement to continue where she left off with Commissioner Harris sadly resigining. The LSFD is now currently led by Commissioner Crawford (previously Russ but now divorced) with improvements and new additions to the department happening each and every month. . 'Commissioned Staff' High Command *Commissioner Jenny Crawford *Deputy Chief Vittoria Tizano *Bureau Chief Nick Apps *Bureau Chief Lydia Rose *Bureau Chief Alastair Crawford Command *Battalion Chief Emmanuel Everett *Battalion Chief Shawn Donnell *Battalion Chief Melisa Garcia *Captain Alastair Crawford *Captain Kevin Alterlis *Captain Nick Apps *Captain Kate Callahan Fire Chiefs (List may contain inaccuracies) *Marty Sweet (2008 - 2013) *Maximo Ferrer (November 2008 - August 2009) *Jordan Street *Rovan White (August 2008 - November 2008) *Jason Scotts (April 2010 - July 2010) *Ed Waldsmith (July 2010 - August 2010) *Jason Scotts (August 2010 - August 2011) *Jenny Crawford (August 2012 - March 2013) *Arun Harris (January 2013 - May 2013) with Jenny Crawford. *Jenny Crawford (May 2013 - ) 'Divisions' The Los Santos Fire Department's mission accomplishment isn't just centered on its wide arsenal of ordinary duties, but also the duties that the specialized divisions and details encompass. They are the engines that drive the Department to success, ensuring that the job is done and that it is done well. Hazardous Materials Response Team The Hazardous Materials Response Team (HAZMAT team) is responsible for responding to and containing incidents involving dangerous goods, or hazardous materials. These incidents include such accidents and emergencies as accidental chemical spillages and leaks (eg. through a traffic collisions/train wrecks/etcetera). Although 'dangerous goods' denotes a broad range of situations, the most common hazard the team respond to is of course the chemical hazard, of which - in its insidious nature - can pose serious risks to health. After having contained the source of the hazard, the team are then tasked with the shipping, handling and subsequent eradication of it. They also see that the affected area is properly cleaned, or decontaminated, with persons believed to be affected by the hazard accounted for by medical personell. Fire Captain Nicholas Luke Apps is the current Commander of the HAZMAT division. Public Affairs Department The Public Affairs Department is tasked with maintaining channels of communications with the citizens and media agencies of Los Santos, ensuring a positive and accurate image of the LSFD is upheld. They accomplish this through liaising with the public and media by means of, for example, regularly providing accounts of significant events or incidents, publicizing any meaningful department changes, and interacting with the public in department events (ie. rallies). PA members will represent the LSFD through all available media avenues - television/radio-broadcasted interviews, press/news conferences, blogs, breaking news feeds, and more. The division is led by Firefigher Carly Wilson. Rapid Intervention Division The Rapid Intervention Division, previously the Rapid Response Unit, they account for the most serious of situations by being first on-scene, within a matter of minutes of the call being received, furnished with a huge arsenal of medical supplies/medicines, expert knowledge and high-performance vehicles. Accompanying this is basic firefighting apparatus, for use when the first on-scene at fire/rescue incidents. The head of this specialist team is Bureau Chief Mark Everett. Child Protective Services The Child Protective Services is a specialist agency that responds to and investigates reports of child abuse or neglect. Their mission is to protect children from dependency and further abuse or maltreatment, and to provide rehabilitative services to children, parents, and other family members involved. They achieve this through performing assessments of child safety, of which gauge the imminent risk of harm to the children and evaluate the need for intervention. The CPS' number one priority is to get a child into the intimate and loving care they deserve, and they will see this through by several means - temporary custody, foster care, grandparent visitation, councilling, and more. Captain Emmanuel Everett is responsible for this department. Training and Recruitment Department The Los Santos Fire Department's T&R, it is their duty to make every member of this department an effective one, with the capability to succeed. The T&R team are responsible for handling applications, applicant interviews and recruiting those who make it to the final stage. Battalion Chief Vittoria Tizano is responsible for the Training Department and Commissioner Arun Harris is responsible for the Recruitment Department. Air Operations Division The Air Operations Division, previously the Air Rescue Department, a state-of-the-art fleet of helicopters, of which all fashion state of the art apparatus, ensures that the job is done and that the department meets its mission successfully. The AOD covers a broad range of assignments, including (but not limited to): *Medical evacuation (medevac) airlifts for casualties that re inaccessible by ordinary ground units, or in a critical condition that may worsen if not brought to the hospital as quickly as possible. *Air-sea/ground search and rescue (often in collaboration with the Marine Detail, LSPD, SASD and U.S. Coast Guard). *Tackling and suppressing large-scale fires (particularly brush fires) through depositing vast amounts of water directly over them. *Ferrying additional resources, ie. persons and apparatus, to scenes and incidents in which time is of the essence. An AgustaWestland AW139, a Sikorsky S-70A Firehawk (of which is favoured for airborne fire suppression) and a Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King (of which has the ability to land on water thanks to its boat-shaped hull) make up the AOD's top-flight fleet, all of which are equipped with thermal imaging (thermographic - infrared) and night-vision cameras. Such leading edge technology easily bolsters search and rescue and firefighting operations and been proven its worth on many occasions. Captain Emmanuel Everett is responsible for the Air Operations Division. Category:Public Services Category:Organizations